


The Red Loftwing

by Shiro_Hunter



Category: The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Xenoblade Chronicles X
Genre: Crossover, Gen, It's It's complicated, Layth Azel and Aryen are all FDs, Sheik and King ofRed lions only as cameos lol, it was real fun writing LoZ characters in the XCX universe, we discussed about a real LoZ one and said Sheik would be Lao haha, with Azel being a dark version of FD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7111852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiro_Hunter/pseuds/Shiro_Hunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small three-ish-shot based off my XCX AU with Nana and Neko at tumblr, using our LoZ muses in Planet Mira. Layth and Azel are mine (eternityslegacy), Majora is Nana's (legacyofchaos) and Aryen is Neko's (kodomu-kishin). Pretty much follows the settings of the game, except with a whole different story... and terminologies. Tumblr won't let me post this right so I'll be posting them here!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Doppel-Ganger Pathfinder

**Author's Note:**

> I feel so bad for taking so long with this D: Long story short, Layth and Azel are both fierce deities, and Aryen is the young version of FD, while Majora is... Majora. I've posted a more detailed info on this AU on my verses page. 
> 
> Other things to note are, I guess that the White Whale is now called the Red Loftwing, Daphnes (King of Red Lions) is the Defense Secretary, and New LA is now called New Castle Town (NCT), and Majora already knows Layth from their ECP triaing days. Other than that, everything is the same (for now)!

**Minor Spoilers for Chapter 5 ahead!**  
More info about Layth and Azel can be found [the verses page of their blog](http://eternityslegacy.tumblr.com/v)!

* * *

 

Majora’s jaw had already hit the floor by the time Defense Secretary Daphnes began his speech.

The old man was yammering on about something which Majora couldn’t even be bothered paying attention to. No, no. Instead of his superior, his eyes were glued to another person entirely—specifically, the man who was lazily listening to the briefing while fiddling with his javelin. The one who had claimed to be in the Reclaimers division only a few hours ago, who was spotted in the corner of the _Pathfinders’_ division drive, conversing with another _Pathfinder, wearing  a **complete Pathfinder uniform.**_

_What the hell?_ Could someone really change divisions – or hair and eye color, for that matter – that quickly?

‘Layth’ was talking to a slightly taller red-haired woman, allowing Majora to deduce that this man was as tall (or as short) as the Layth he’d talked to during their training days for project Exodus. What he wore was the Forza version of SakurabaIndustries’ skell set—a standard Pathfinder uniform—with pair of gloves instead of Mits. His hair was colored jet-black instead of silver (not to mention slightly longer), and his eyes, a bright amber instead of pale turquoise.

_The hell’s happened to him?_ Majora thought, still frozen in place. _Did he change his mim’s appearance? How did he—_

A nudge in the elbow snapped Majora back to attention. “What?” He said exasperatedly at his senior, who waited until the Defense Secretary was out of earshot before answering:

“I’m betting on my damn Skell you did not just hear any of that.” Sheik sighed, his lone crimson eye as unreadable as ever.

 “Any of... what?”

 Sheik sighed again. “Aizen.” He called, and the man that Majora had been staring at up until just now looked up, waving at the red-haired woman before making his way towards them.

  _Aizen? That’s also Layth’s last name..._

 Once he was standing beside the much taller Majora, ‘Layth’ stopped, saluting at Sheik. “Sir.”

 “Please brief team Chimera’s leader here about the joint expedition tomorrow. Time, rendezvous point, everything you can think of, dump ‘em into him. I don’t want anybody left behind because a certain someone blatantly ignored the commander’s briefing. Got it?”

 “Yes, sir.” ‘Layth’ saluted again as Sheik was going off to Goddess knows where. He looked up at the purplehaired with a mischievous smirk on his face – something Layth would never do in Majora’s wildest dreams. “Looks like someone spaced out during the briefing, eh?”

 “Anyway,” he continued. “Basically, you, me, and our teams are gonna go together for the joint expedition tomorrow. 8 o’ clock, sharp. The rendezvous point is Skybound Coil Tree, so try not to—“

 “Did you color your…” Majora said suddenly, raising a brow, cutting off ‘Layth’s mini-briefing. “….your everything?”

 “…My what?”

* * *

 

 Layth almost choked on his drink later that evening. “You… You _what_?”

 “Like I said, I think I just met your brother.” Majora answered casually, a small grin forming on his lips once he’d seen the silly look on Layth’s face. Sweet Lord, how he wished he’d brought a camera onto the Red Loftwing. “Thanks for not telling me, by the way.”

 “How did you—“ Layth spoke eventually. “How did you fin—no, wait. What division did you say you were in again?”

 “Pathfinders.”

 Sighing, Layth pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course it is.” Of all the divisions he could be in… Of course it’d be the one his brother had just been transferred to last week. _Of course_. “… What did he tell you?”

The Reclaimer rolled his eyes when Majora made a dramatic thinking pose, and crossed his arms when he started counting with his fingers. “Oh, nothing much. Except for the fact that you have a twin brother named Azel, and that you’re both actually half-japanese, _and_ that you used to be a Harrier, and that you still believe in the Great Oogly monster until you’re sixteen.”

This time, Layth _actually_ choked on his drink. “ _Excuse me?_ ”

“Why did you think I’d treat you to a drink if I wasn’t supplied with embarrassing stories to shame you with?” Majora smirked, taking a big swig out of his own beer while watching Layth’s being wiped off his mouth in a panically comical fashion.

“ …I knew something was off.”  The silverhaired facepalmed.   _Azel, that bastard…_

“So…” Layth began once he had taken a deep breath, face turning from embarrassed to stern. “He didn’t tell you anything else? Beside the, uh, embarrassing childhood stories?”

Majora raised an eyebrow. “Nothing else, I guess. Why?”

“Oh, n-nothing.” Layth answered quickly—a bit too quickly, even—before returning to his half-empty glass of beer. “That’s, um, good.”

Although his coworker had a thoroughly uncinvinced look on his face, Layth didn’t press on the subject any further—instead, he immediately grabbed his  glass, and said:

“A-Anyway! No matter what stories you might have, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still the one inviting me to the diner tonight. So I hope you’re ready to take responsibility. Seconds!”

 


	2. The Eleven-Year-Old Mediator (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When his teammates were all doing a mission on their own, when he was given a mission to check on the condition of an old friend's team in the Noctilum BC, when he asked Majora for assistance, of course Majora would do everything in his power to make it even more unbearable than before.

Layth all but dragged his feet up the steep slopes of Noctilum, sighing as he leaned to his longsword.

“Aww, is that all the mighty Interceptor-turned-Reclaimer can handle?”

 It took him all of his might not to growl. “Shut it.” Layth hissed, wondering how, exactly, did Romani and the others managed to put up with a leader like this. Or maybe he was just the only one that Majora enjoyed trolling?

Some ways in front of him, Majora snickered, apparently amused at his teammate’s reaction. Moreover, Layth’s glare didn’t seem to do a thing either – instead of disappearing, the Pathfinder’s grin only widen when he’d noticed their other teammate was having trouble scaling the mountain as well.

 “Come on! Keep lazing about, and I just might take all the glory, you know?” Majora taunted further, this time actually walking ahead to (presumably) avoid bursting to laughter when he saw Azel’s reaction.

 Yes, _Azel’s_ reaction.

 Layth looked over to where his twin brother was. _Unsurprisingly,_ he found the blackhaired growling and muttering curses, despite being obviously out of breath. The silverhaired seriously considered joining in—after all, no one else was here to see the usually calm and level-headed BLADE lose his composure, and Azel had already seen him doing just that numerous times. Awkward as it was being around him, at least Layth knew Azel wasn’t the type to gossip much.

“Goddess-fucking-damned _son of a goddamn_ \--!!” Azel swore in a much louder voice, all but crushing his javelin out of frustration.

  _…Never mind_. Layth thought, silently fearing that his brother’s weapon might snap in two before they reach their destination. _There’s no way I can reach that level of swearing anytime soon._

Neither had been talking to each other, nor would’ve think twice about dropping their heavy weapons out of frustration, but they both know _exactly_ what was in each other’s minds.

_Majora, that goddamn fucker…_

* * *

_"A mission?”_

_Layth nodded, fiddling with his comm device for a moment longer before looking up at the taller BLADE, saying:_

_"Yeah, the Commander came to my barracks and asked my team to do it just this morning.”_

_Scratching the back of his neck, Majora sighed, his expression changing into an uninterested one as he put his gaze away from the silverhaired’s. “Couldn’t you just ask one of your team mates?”_

_“My men are all taking a mission on their own today.” Layth shrugged. “’Said they wanted to train to fight without their leader. I can’t exactly give them a call when that’s the case, can I?”_

_"You, on the other hand…” He continued, having slipped his comm device back into his pocket and was now crossing his arms in a very ‘Layth’-like fashion. “…don’t look like you’ve got anything better to do, what’s with you wandering around the Commercial District playing around with your raygun—which is dangerous, might I add—like that.”_

_Majora groaned. He opened his mouth to speak, only for Layth to cut him off before he was able to say anything._

_"And don’t you give me the ‘I left an excuse in the oven’ because I know your barracks doesn’t even_ have _an oven and I’m honestly surprised—on so many levels – that worked on Orville.”_

Damn, so he isn’t as gullible as his team after all… _Majora groaned again. Couldn’t he escape? Or, if he really couldn’t, was there nothing that might make this trip a little more… bearable?_

_At that moment, something clicked in Majora’s head. “Wait, hold up.” He said suddenly, making Layth jump a little. “You’re not bringing your team mates, right? So can I call somebody else to join? Someone who, uh, knows the way better than me?”_

_"W-Well, uh, yes, but who…—“_

_"Great! West Gate, nine-hundred hours, be right back!” Majora had already dashed off to Goddess knew where before Layth could finish his sentence, leaving him in the middle of West Melville Street, wondering what got the Pathfinder so worked up about._

_And, was it just him, or did he see an evil grin on Majora’s lips just now?_

* * *

Upon reaching the top of the hill, Layth doubled over, Azel doing no different some ways ahead. Leaning to his longsword, Layth struggled to steady his breath, silently cursing the glaring sun in Noctilum that day and the purplehaired that was practically whistling on a lookout point ahead.

 _I swear, I’ll kill that guy once this mission is over_. Layth took a deep breath, and stood straight again, wiping the sweat off his brow. _Then again, weren’t I the one who asked for his aid? Dammit. I should’ve kno—_

“What _is_ this… rescue mission about, anyway?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Layth flinched. “Wha—huh?”

“I said… what is it we’re exactly doing… in this mission.” Azel repeated, still slightly out of breath, his tone strangely monotonic compared to his usual, sarcastic one. “Neither of you have… have explained anything to me since we departed.”

“Oh, uh…” _Get yourself together, Layth! Stop sounding so nervous_! “Charles’ team hasn't been sending reports recently... So we're supposed to check on him. I-In the Upper Hushflood Base Camp. Around Celestial Ascent.”

Azel didn’t say anything other than a, “Mm.” before going on ahead to catch up with Majora.

Layth watched his brother go, staring at his back until it disappeared into the thick greenery. Once Azel was out of sight, the silverhaired sigh, brought his palm to his face, and dragged it down.

_One more opportunity to apologize missed…_

It had always turned out like this; ever since that incident on the Red Loftwing, Azel would only speak to him when absolutely necessary, and in the most professional and emotionless fashion possible which made it even harder to apologize. This wasn’t the first time Layth had tried to, of course. Every other time, he’d only go as far as ‘Azel, I—‘ before finding the words stuck in his throat, creating an awkward silence that dragged on for minutes.

 _Gods, why am I so bad at this?_ Layth lamented as he pushed through the indigenous bushes in his way. Upon coming out to the light of day, he sheathed his sword.

...And dropped his jaw in complete and utter awe.

Spread out before him, a massive river surrounded by small, green fields filled with native vegetation. The giant cliff on either side prevent him from seeing the sea, but the sight of the tall, _majestic_ waterfall at the end of the river all but made up for it. Giant trees, flowers, roots, not to mention _indigens…_ the sheer scale of everything was almost overwhelming.

“Wow.” Layth muttered, to which the two Pathfinders stopped in their tracks to turn and see what happened.

“Oh, right, Reclaimers don’t go near the Celestial Ascent much, do they?” For once, Majora sounded genuinely surprised. But, a grin soon graced his lips as he put a hand on his hip, and presented the bewildering scenery to Layth with his other. “Well, welcome to Mira, Young _Prince_.”

“This is…” Layth started, shielding his eyes from the sun to get a better look at the majestic waterfall. “…This is _amazing_.”

Layth couldn’t tell whether the chuckle he heard from Azel’s direction was meant for him or not.

“Yeah, so long as you don’t go over that waterfall.” Majora continued, eagerly pointing like a kid out on a school trip at the landscape Layth had been staring at. “No one knows what’s beyond it, but see those red roots at the top?”

Layth nodded.

“From the FrontierNav, we’ve discovered that thing is a part of a much, much larger tree—waaaaayyy up above the waterfall.”

“Majora.” Azel suddenly called some ways ahead, but Majora either ignored or didn’t notice him.

“And you know what dwells in giant places on Mira. A hint for your slow brain; nothing good.”

“Majora.”

“They even said there’s some sort of a super-powerful Tyrant up there. ‘Called ‘im the Endbri—“

“ _Majora!”_

“ _What?!”_

The blackhaired didn’t say a word, he simply gestured for the others to come closer, and pointed to… _Something_ on the ground once they did.

The wonder in Layth’s face had disappeared, the mischievous grin on Majora’s turning into a frown, and they both stood aghast at the ‘thing’ Azel had pointed at by the time they got there.

“An indigen, clearly.” Azel pointed to the bite marks left on the torso part of the mimeosome remains, wires and robotic components visible as clear as day, sparks not flying anymore from the open wound where the head once was. A generous amount of dirt and leaves covered most of the headless mimeosome’s body, suggesting it had been left there for some time. “This part from the left shoulder to the neck, bitten clean off, see?”

Majora sternly – and silently – bent down to examine the mim, obviously trying to identify it. Of course, it would be next to impossible to do so without a face to recognize, but...

“Charles.” Layth suddenly spoke, breaking the tense silence as the others looked up. “He got a bird-shaped tattoo on his left arm recently. Just… like the one there…”

Azel clicked his tongue. “How many of his team members departed from NCT?”

“All except Saria –  the Outfitter who requested this mission.” Answered Layth stiffly as he stared wide-eyed at the corpse of the friend he’d known from his Interceptor days. “So there’re three… Charles, Ester, and… and a rookie eleven-year-old mediator…”

Now it was Majora’s turn to click his tongue. He appeared somewhat confused at first, looking almost panically back and forth between Charles’ body and the falls, before standing up and said:

“Layth, send whatever pictures you have of Ester and that mediator to our comm device, stat.” He ordered, actually sounding serious, much to Layth’s surprise. “Spread out and search the area for those two, and contact each other before engaging. Got it?”

Layth and Azel both nodded in acknowledgement. “Yes, sir.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now, Majora already knows how uncomfortable and awkward Layth is around his brother. Will I ever make the problem between them resolved? Have I even figure out what their problem is? In Sully's voice, Hell no!
> 
> I have been tweaking this chapter for months because I've always feel like something was a bit off with the pacing (same with the last chapter), but you know what I tend to notice mistakes one second after it's published so why don't we do that and edit those later?
> 
> But yeaaaahhh this IS just a small AU of a roleplay blog, I suppose I'll just have to figure something out /if/ I decided to do so. On the other hand, I'll hopefully bring Aryen's arc to a close with another chapter. ...Which might come out in another six months. I don't know.


End file.
